Nick Nohitter has been playing baseball since he was five years old and has always dreamed of playing in the big leagues. Last season, he was a starting pitcher for a double-A (AA)-level baseball team, the Roswell Extraterrestrials; last year, he was the first runner-up for the Minor League Player of the Year award. Using his 93 mph fastball, an impeccable curve ball and slider, and a reliable changeup pitch, he achieved a 15-2 winloss record, an earned run average (ERA) of 2.76, and 123 strikeouts in 99.1 innings pitched. He is also your best friend.

Two weeks ago, on his three-year anniversary with the team, Nick received the following email from his agent, Marty Fineprint, indicating that he is being called up to the Wichita Wizards, the Extraterrestrialss corresponding Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Moreover, Nicks contract is being revised to reflect his new status. The email describes the general terms and conditions of Nicks revised contract.

From: Marty Fineprint

To: Nick Nohitter

Subject: New Team, New Contract Proposal

Nick,

Congratulations! Youve been called up to the Wichita Wizards. Below are the offered terms and conditions of your new contract. After you review them and think about the offer, call me and well discuss your options. Congrats again!

Salary and Incentives:

	Nick Nohitter hereafter referred to as the Player, is offered a four-year contract with an annual salary of $534,000 per year, to be paid at the end of each month in the contract term.
	Under the leagues collective bargaining agreement, the Player will receive a 4% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to his annual salary at the beginning of every other year. This means that the Players annual salary will increase at the beginning of year 2 and year 4, as applicable.
	In addition, the Player will receive a one-time $10,000 time-in-league bonus after six months of participation with an MLB team. This bonus will be paid immediately on completion of the six-month period.
	The Player is offered a performance-based bonus, as well as a milestone bonus. Both are intended to encourage outstanding performance.
	The Player is offered the following award-based performance incentive: a 15% bonus if he is selected for consideration of a major awardsuch as the Cy Young Award (for outstanding pitching). The Player is also offered the following milestone bonus: a $150,000 bonus if he ties Nolan Ryans 1973 single-season strikeout record (383 strikeouts).
	The Player is eligible for each potential bonus each year that the contract is in effect and, if expressed as a percentage, will be based on the value of the Players base annual salary for the corresponding year. If earned, the performance and milestone bonuses will be distributed in a single payment at the beginning of the next contract year. Although this proposal describes only one milestone, the actual contract contains several progressive milestones. Exceeding one milestone creates the opportunity to exceed another.

In addition to the proposal offered by the Wizards, Ive also been able to secure the following endorsement opportunity:

A local car dealer has offered you a contract that will pay $3,000 per month for two years. This contract is contingent on your accepting the contract with the Wizards and will take effect immediately upon signing your MLB contract. In return for these payments, you will participate in the dealers promotional events, such as signing autographs and allowing photographs as requested.

Ive also attached a worksheet that you can use to analyze the deal. Im in negotiations for the rest of the day, so lets discuss your thoughts on the contract proposal tomorrow. Im proud of you!

Take care,

Marty

Marty Fineprint

Sports Agent, R&R Talent Management Inc. | Wichita

Nick is so excited! According to Marty, the contract is worth $3,096,400assuming receipt of all possible bonuses. After rereading the email twice and calling his family, Nick called you to review the terms of the contract and verify Martys calculations. After an extended conversation about what hell do with his newfound wealth, you and Nick have agreed that any funds received could be invested to earn 5.00%, compounded monthly.

Contract Evaluation Worksheet

Complete the following worksheet by inserting the appropriate values to evaluate the contract and answer the related questions. Note: To clarify possible sources of confusion and simplify your calculations:

	Assume that all bonuses are earned in each of the years for which they are available and are paid at the end of the corresponding year(s), unless specifically stated differently. Their value should be based on the salary in effect at the time the bonuses were earned.
	The endorsement proceeds are paid in accordance with the terms of the deal.
	Remember that the timing of a cash flow affects the interest rate that is used to discount the cash flow. For example, annual interest rates should be used to discount annual cash flows, and monthly interest rates are used to discount monthly cash flows. Therefore, it may be necessary to compute the appropriate interest rate that should be used in a discounting calculation.
	Round all dollar amounts to the nearest whole dollar and carry out all interest rate factors to four decimal places.
	When entering intermediate values as answer choices, be sure to round them to the nearest dollar, however when using those same values to calculate another answer, do not round.

Nick Nohitter's Contract Evaluation Worksheet

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	Assumptions and Calculated Values
2	Bank Rate Information:
3	Nick's Bank Account Rate (compounded monthly)	%
4	Monthly Bank Rate	%
5	Effective Annual Interest Rate	%
6
7	Salary and Bonus Information:	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3	Year 4	Total value
8	Annual Salary (4% COLA)
9	Monthly Salary
10	Discount factor (based on Cell B4 above)	11.681222004	11.11267639	10.571802890	10.057254654195
11	Discounted Annual Salary
12
13	Time-in-League Bonus
14	Discount factor (based on Cell B4 above)	0.9754
15	Discounted Time-in-League Bonus
16
17	Milestone Bonus
18	Discount factor (based on Cell B5 above)	0.9513	0.9050	0.8610	0.8191
19	Discounted Milestone Bonus
20
21	Performance Bonus
22	Discount factor (based on Cell B5 above)	0.9513	0.9050	0.8610	0.8191
23	Discounted Performance Bonus
24
25	Monthly Endorsement Contract Payment
26	Discount factor (based on Cell B4 above)	11.6812	11.1127
27	Discounted Monthly Endorsement Payment
28
29	Contracts Total Nominal Value
30	Contracts Total Discounted Value

1. Given your worksheet calculations, which of the following statements is accurate? Is Martys estimate of the value of Nicks contract accurate on either a nominal or discounted basis? Check all that apply.

Martys estimate of the value of Nicks contract is incorrect on a nominal basis, and the error is $69,239.

Martys estimate of the nominal value of Nicks contract is correct.

It is appropriate and necessary to discount the performance bonus using the bank accounts effective annual interest rate because of differences in the timing of the compounding of the bank account and that of the payments for the performance bonus.

Related Question: The local car dealer creating Nick's endorsement opportunity can earn 6% (compounded quarterly) on his deposited funds. She would have to deposit

each quarter, starting exactly two years before the day Nick signs his contract, to fund her endorsement contract. [Note: The future value interest factor of 6% compounded quarterly for eight quarterly periods is 8.4328.]